As a leading independent international freight forwarder and 3PL company, we speak with hundreds of customers each month and a common question we receive is about the state of the import sea freight market into Australia. It is an consistently asked question and at BCR we believe it is important to share sea freight market knowledge with our customers and prospects.

Read on to learn the state of the import sea freight market to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth (Fremantle) and Adelaide so that you are prepared for the traditional peak season period.

Sea Freight Services from North East Asia to Australia

Carriers continue in their plight to cut available capacity to create the peak that the trade has been eagerly awaiting. Some took this opportunity to push forward with another GRI effective 1 September.

Confidence improved as the market welcomed the increased forecasts all pointing to a healthier outlook as vessels started to sail fully utilised. This was greatly attributed to the blank sailings and the traditional spike in demand as we approach mid-Autumn Festival (Sept 27) and Golden Week National Holidays (Oct 1 – 7). 

We believe that the sea freight services market will see immense space pressures from week 37 to week 44 as 5 out of 8 consortia introduce blank sailings during these weeks.  Carriers will take advantage of this cut in supply and spike in demand to pursue a premium.

Sea Freight Services from South East Asia to Australia

The South East Asia Discussion Agreement (SEADA) group of carriers, united in an effort to pursue increases, announced a GRI effective 1 September.

Over the past few years this trade has seen multiple failed attempts to implement GRIs. With carriers continual reported losses in revenue due to the increasing costs in feeder vessels on this trade, they maintain their desire to increase the current unsustainable rates. In order to assist this process, MSC announced they will implement a blank sailing on their Capricorn service in week 39 to assist in cut backs to supply.

Sea Freight Services from the United States to Australia

Peak season is finally here with the Port of Long Beach reporting an increase of approximately 23% in comparison to August 2014. Shippers as well as carriers are confident that peak season this year will be more prevalent in the coming months especially in October and early November.

The struggle late last year and earlier this year between the longshore labour and employers caused West Coast ports to lose market share as terminal congestion forced shippers to seek East Coast alternatives.

It has now been reported that the ship queues have disappeared at the Port of Oakland with the vast majority of vessels arriving in Oakland and going straight to berth. This has been attributed to an influx of additional longshore labour over the past weeks which have assisted to eliminate the backlog.  It is important to note that warnings from the Port of Oakland suggested that the backlog could reoccur if more longshore labour is not added.

A plan by terminal operators called OAKPASS is being proposed to the Federal Maritime Commission to fund opening their terminals on Saturday. This would consist of a fee being collected on containers moving through the port on Monday through to Friday and this fee would assist them to keep the port open on Saturday. A second part of the proposal is to ensure a common pool of chassis is made available to assist truckers to move containers quickly out of the port.   

Sea Freight Services from Europe to Australia

As carriers attempt to raise rates and introduce major increases in the Far East trades to Europe, Australia remains unscathed.

Monthly changes to surcharges including adjustments in bunker prices will continue in line with changes in oil prices. In addition, we have been made aware that major European carriers will be adjusting the Low Sulphur Surcharge (LSF), also known as Emission Control Area Surcharge (ECA), effective 1 October. Each carrier will levy their own charges.

BCR is an international freight forwarding and 3PL provider focused on delivering reliable and efficient services. To receive our blog updates including our monthly sea freight market update subscribe to our blog by clicking here.

If you have any specific questions on the state of the sea freight market into Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth (Fremantle) or Adelaide, or would like to discuss how the current market conditions and peak season might impact your freight imports, please contact us on 1300 663 227.